Three-time nominee is in his Element
TRIPLE Oscar-nominated producer Ed Guiney has admitted it’s still ‘incredibly exciting’ to be up for an Academy Award.
And the founder and co-CEO of Element Pictures – whose films Room, The Favourite and now Poor Things have all been nominated for Best Picture – revealed how the recognition breeds further success.
Mr Guiney told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Actually the place where it matters most in the world is LA, which is the centre of our business.
So it really does raise your profile and give you access.
‘Then if you look at the actors we’ve worked with over time, it’s a lot of the biggest names in Hollywood, so as you make more things and people do well out of them and actors like working with you, that just increases possibilities for the future.’
He added award recognition, and being able to refer to it in publicity, greatly enhances a film’s performance – Poor Things will show in 2,500 theatres in the US next week after the Oscar nods, compared to 750 this week.
The Dubliner remembers the 2019 awards when it looked as though The Favourite would miss out in all 10 categories it was nominated in.
‘You can go in and out to a bar and when you go out someone sits in your seat so there’s no empty seats for the broadcast. There was a gang of us outside and we were sort of going “Oh well, whatever.”
‘Then suddenly they were beginning to announce the Best Actress category and we were all just having a glass of champagne and ran back in not expecting Olivia [Coleman] to win because Glenn Close was supposed to. Then she won and we were delighted.
‘But the nominations are a win really – I know it’s a cliche.’
The Dubliner said the period between being nominated and the ceremony is best as ‘everything’s possible... once it’s over, real life kicks in, you get on with it’.